IX "That courtesy rewards no deed

 "That courtesy rewards no deed

If all be true that thou dost say;

Our life not two years didst thou lead

Nor learned to please God, nor to pray,

No Paternoster knew nor creed¹,

And made a queen on the first day!

I may not think, so God me speed!

That God from right would swerve² away;

As a countess, damsel, by my fay!

To live in heaven were a fair boon³,

Or like a lady of less array,

But a queen! Ah, no! it is too soon."

"With Him there is no soon nor late,"

Replied to me that worthy⁴ wight;

"True always is His high mandate⁵;

He doth no evil, day nor night.

Hear Matthew in the mass narrate⁶,

In the Gospel of the God of might,

His parable⁷ portrays⁸ the state

Of the Kingdom of Heaven, clear as light:

'My servants,' saith He, 'I requite⁹

As a lord who will his vineyard prune¹⁰;

The season of the year is right,

And labourers must be hired soon.'"

"Right soon the hirelings all may see

How the master with the dawn arose;

To hire his labourers forth¹¹ went he,

And workmen stout¹² and strong he chose.

For a penny a day they all agree,

Even as the master doth propose,

They toil¹³ and travail¹⁴ lustily,

Prune, bind¹⁵, and with a ditch enclose.

Then to the market-place he goes,

And finds men idle at high noon:

'How can a man stand here who knows

The vineyards should be tilled so soon?'"

"'Soon as day dawned we hither won,

And no man hath our labour sought;

We have been standing¹⁶ since rose the sun

And no one bids us to do aught.'

'Enter my vineyard every one,'

The master answered quick as thought:

'The work that each by night has done

I will truly pay, withholding¹⁷ naught¹⁸.'

Among the vines they went and wrought¹⁹,

While morning, noon and afternoon,

More labourers the master brought,

Until the night must gather soon."

"Soon fell the time of evensong.

An hour before the sun was set,

He saw more idlers, young and strong;

His voice was sober with regret:

'Why stand ye idle all day long?'

'No man,' they said, 'hath hired us yet.'

'Go to my vineyard, fear no wrong;

Each man an honest wage shall get.'

The day grew dark and darker yet,

"Before the rising of the moon;

The master who would pay his debt,

Bade summon all the hirelings soon."

1 creed   

n.信条；信念，纲领

参考例句：

• They offended against every article of his creed.他们触犯了他的每一条戒律。
• Our creed has always been that business is business.我们的信条一直是公私分明。

2 swerve   

v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离

参考例句：

• Nothing will swerve him from his aims.什么也不能使他改变目标。
• Her car swerved off the road into a 6ft high brick wall.她的车突然转向冲出了马路，撞向6英尺高的一面砖墙。

3 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。

7 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

8 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 requite   

v.报酬，报答

参考例句：

• The Bible says to requite evil with good.圣经要人们以德报怨。
• I'll requite you for your help.我想报答你的帮助。

10 prune   

n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除

参考例句：

• Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
• It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

13 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

14 travail   

n.阵痛；努力

参考例句：

• Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。
• He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

15 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

16 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

17 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

18 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

19 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。